Meanwhile in Connecticut
by check out my new account
Summary: "I thought about May Castellan, alone in her kitchen, baking cookies and making sandwiches for a son who would never come home." But what if she stopped baking cookies and making sandwiches and realized that her son was gone? Maybe not forever, though. Luke knows he'll see her again. And he can't wait. Was a one-shot, recently added a new chapter.
1. Meanwhile in Connecticut

_"I thought about May Castellan, alone in her kitchen, baking cookies and making sandwiches for a son who would never come home."_

\- Percy Jackson, _The Last Olympian_

A battle raged on Olympus. Kronos struck Annabeth's face, and she slid backwards.

Meanwhile in Connecticut, the kitchen still smelled like burning things and mildew. May Castellan put another tray of cookies into the oven. Her son would come home soon, and he would be hungry. He had said he would be back for lunch. She hadn't seen him since he had asked for her blessing, but he would be home soon. Mrs. Medusa said so.

As she was about to turn the oven on, May suddenly fell over. Her son! There he was! Something was wrong, though. What was it?

His eyes, his beautiful blue eyes had turned gold! Just like the child in black had said. Her poor son... his fate... he was going to hurt those children! No, that was silly. Luke wouldn't hurt anyone. He had left to protect May! He was a good boy, but he had done something very wrong... oh. She had fallen.

She stood and turned the oven to five hundred degrees. Normally, she would have one of the monsters out front bake them, but there were no monsters out front today. There hadn't been since Luke left. So she used the oven instead, turning up the heat to compensate for the lack of fire breath.

The timer, as usual, was at seventeen minutes. It stayed there all the time! So convenient. She never had to reset it. It didn't make any noise, either! That was good, too. A lot of noise hurt May's ears. It made smells instead. May could tell when the cookies were done because of the burning smell the timer made. It was a very useful timer.

May blinked. What was she doing? Something had happened. Had her son come home? She rushed to the door. No. Not yet. Someone else was there. It was Hermes! She opened the door as fast as she could, but Hermes flew away.

"Hermes!" she called, anguished. He didn't come back.

She sighed and went back to her kitchen. Her kitchen wasn't there now. It was the sixth hundredth floor of the Empire State building. She had been there with Hermes and Luke on the way to her special job! It hadn't worked out, but it was still nice to see Olympus. That must be where Hermes had gone! Perhaps he had had to deliver a message. He was the god of messengers, you know.

And there was the boy she had mistaken for Luke! Silly her. That wasn't Luke. He had blond hair and blue eyes. This boy had black hair and green eyes. He looked angry. He was looking at... Luke! Luke was standing over his friend with the gray eyes. My! How she had grown! She was so big now! But she looked hurt and sad.

"Family, Luke," she said, "you promised."

Luke's eyes were gold, as May had seen earlier. But now they turned blue again! Her son was back! His fate wasn't terrible anymore! "Promise," he said.

Olympus turned back into the kitchen. Luke was back! She was so excited. Then that something happened again, so she went to the door. Luke still wasn't there. No one else was there. Then it happened again! It was starting to get annoying. It happened twice more! It was like there were voices in her head, two more than usual, one telling her Luke was a good boy and was on his way home, another saying he had made a wrong choice that had consumed him, and they were arguing. Arguing was bad. People got hurt when they argued, so she told the voices to stop. And they did.

She saw Luke again. His lips were bright red and were moving, but she couldn't hear any sound. It was like watching a silent film until Luke closed his eyes. Then she saw the gods. There was Hermes! And Poseidon. Apart from Hermes, he was her favorite. So kind and respectful. She had only met him once, but he was good.

"Percy, what... what is this?" he said to the boy with black hair.

The boy stood and said, "We need a shroud. A shroud for the son of Hermes." Then May was back in her kitchen.

All the voices were suddenly gone. It felt odd to hear only herself. Goodness! The kitchen table was overrun with moldy sandwiches in plastic bags and trays of burnt cookies. There were so many! Her son wouldn't need that many when he... came...

He wasn't coming home.

May fell to her knees. Sobs racked her body. Her beautiful Luke wasn't coming home. Ever. He was dead, like the Oracle at Camp Half-Blood. Only he didn't have a spirit inside of him. He was dead.

She didn't know how long she sat there weeping. She fell asleep. She dreamed she was in a green valley. She had loved to picnic here before she had a child to raise. Luke sat next to her, the scar gone from his face, his eyes a beautiful blue.

"Luke!" she exclaimed. "But... but you died."

"Yeah," Luke admitted. "But I died a hero. I'm going to be reborn, try for the Isles of the Blest. Maybe you'll see me."

"Really?" May asked.

Luke smiled. "Really. I have to go now. The judges are waiting." He kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Luke. See you later."

May woke and went to her room. By some miracle, she got most of her hair to lie flat. She changed out of her smelly clothes and went for a walk.

One of the girls she used to babysit, Evelyn, was walking down the street with a man around her age. "Hello, Mrs. Castellan," she said. "Has your son come home yet?" May realized that on the rare occasions she went out, everyone who had asked this had been making fun of her.

"No," she said. "He – he died. But I'll see him soon. How have you been?"

"Just fine, thank you," Evelyn said. May could see she was surprised. "I'm pregnant."

"That's wonderful!" May said. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Not yet. We're going to name it Amanda if it's a girl. Do you have any ideas for if it's a boy?"

May grinned. Not her crazy-lady grin, but a real smile. "How about Luke?"

 **It's really short, I know. But I was in bed this morning, reading The Last Olympian, and the sentence at the top literally made me cry. Please review.**


	2. Meanwhile in Elysium

**I know I said it was a one-shot, but here :P**

The judges had given him nine months.

Luke had been named a hero, the savior of Olympus. He'd been awarded with Elysium, and he'd asked to be reborn. In nine mortal months, Charon would arrive to take him and a few others to the River Lethe to begin the process of reincarnation. He had nine months to say goodbye to everyone he'd loved.

He started with his mom. She knew he'd died, somehow. He told her about his plans for rebirth. Her last words to him were, "See you later." And Luke knew that he would.

He tried to appear to another friend of his in a dream, but he tried for four mortal months and couldn't make contact. It was like she was purposely blocking out thoughts of him. He didn't blame her.

Then he roamed the Fields of Asphodel. So many deaths that were all his fault. Beckendorf. Ethan. Silena. He'd search Elysium for these spirits later, but for now, he had many to apologize to. Almost all of the demigods who had been on the _Princess Andromeda_ were there – Alabaster Torrington was missing, as were a few more. None of them remembered Luke, and they just chattered meaninglessly when he introduced himself, but he said goodbye anyway.

None of the demigods who'd invaded Manhattan had died. Percy Jackson had spared every last one of them. He was grateful for this. As Kronos, he would have done anything to bring about the downfall of the gods. But as himself, he was glad fewer lives had been lost.

Luke made a detour on his way to Elysium and spit into Tartarus, hoping the saliva landed on Kronos's ugly, chopped-up face.

More than he would have thought imaginable were in Elysium. Beckendorf, Silena, and Ethan weren't present. Many, many others were, though. And all of them were surprised to see Luke. One tried to step on his ghostly foot. He hugged the ones who were happy for him, smiled at those who weren't, and was on his way.

The judges had given him a house in West Elysium to wait for Charon. After almost nine months, he sat on the bed and thought over the final day of his life above. Annabeth had said she'd never loved him. That had hurt. It was obvious that she'd loved Percy, and that he loved her. Ever since Annabeth was eleven years old, Luke had considered her... a bit more than a little sister. When she was twelve, Percy had come along. For a few days, he was just another patient. Probably the hero of the Great Prophecy, but still just a patient. Then he had woken up, and Luke had known he was done for. Beaten by a twelve-year-old before either had admitted that they'd liked her. At least Annabeth got to be happy. If it came down to it, that was what he wanted.

He didn't know how long it took. Maybe he slept. Maybe not. But eventually, the knock on the door came. He donned the ceremonial black robes – apparently the ceremony had changed recently – and walked to the river with Charon and four other spirits. When they reached it, Charon gave each of them a small paper. They were to take off their robes and read it aloud. Luke went first.

"My name was Luke Castellan," he read. "I was twenty-one years old. I was the savior of Olympus. I give up the old life and accept the new."

The tallest ghoul was next. "My name was Charles Beckendorf. I was eighteen years old. I was a hero of the Second Titan War. I give up the old life and accept the new."

"My name was Silena Beauregard. I was seventeen years old. I was a hero of the Second Titan War. I give up the old life and accept the new."

"My name was Ethan Nakamura. I was sixteen years old. I was a hero of the Second Titan War. I give up the old life and accept the new."

There was only one that Luke didn't know: a young girl with olive skin and a silky black braid. Her robes were silver rather than black.

"Miss," Charon said to her, "you know that Hunters automatically receive the first Isle of the Blessed. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course," she replied. "My name was Bianca di Angelo. I was twelve years old. I sacrificed myself to save my friends from a defective automaton. I give up the old life and accept the new."

Beckendorf and Silena shared a quick kiss. Ethan and Luke shook hands. Bianca whispered something that sounded like, "I'm sorry, Nico. I love you." And together, they stepped into the waters of the Lethe.

He couldn't breathe. He felt a sharp sting of pain across his stomach and was suddenly wailing. Everything was so dark – he couldn't open his eyes. He was set down in someone's arms and felt a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"What are you going to name him, Evelyn?" someone asked.

Another voice, unknown but somewhat familiar, impossibly soft, said, "Luke."

 **Thanks for all of y'all's reveiws on Chapter 1. I might be adding more on this later.**


End file.
